Bring the public domain into the future! This April, WFMU and the Free Music Archive are challenging artists everywhere to create new recordings and contemporary arrangements of historic compositions available in the public domain. We’re calling this our Revitalize Music Contest.

To inspire entries, we’ve handpicked a selection of out-of-copyright songs with compelling lyrics, beautiful melodies, and unusual stories. Keep in mind that unless materials are listed in our contest repository, the recordings of performances we link to are still within the scope of copyright. After learning about the songs and contest rules here below, you can browse our pool of entries.

In addition to showing up constantly on TV, movies, and when you open musical jewelry boxes, this song has been recorded by Bing Crosby, Roy Orbison, and (our personal favorite) Justine and the Victorian Punks. It was originally a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864) that was published posthumously by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York.

A comic song that was performed by Al Jolson in his show The Honeymoon Express. It's also notably been sung by "outsider" musician Tony Mason-Cox, an Australian insurance agent who believed himself to be the reincarnation of a black slave from 19th Century Alabama. It was written by Billy Merson.

Felix Arndt (1889–1918) wrote this novelty ragtime-style piano roll as an engagement gift to his fiancée (and later wife), Nola Locke. He died just three years after it was published, and lyrics were later added by James F. Burns.

One winning song from our pool of entries will be given a Rebecca Black "Friday" treatment. We’ll be hiring a music video professional to create an original music video that showcases the winning song and shares it with a wider audience.

Entries should be comprised of music that you create yourself, material that's in the public domain, or other material that you have express permission to use. Keep in mind that most recordings and performances of these public domain songs are still within the scope of copyright.

Entrants must create accounts on the Free Music Archive in order to submit to the contest. This way we have your info. You can sign up here.

Entries must be in the form of an audio recording and in MP3 format, stereo bitrate 192kbps or higher (256kbps preferred).

Entries must be submitted using our form here. You can submit as many entries as you'd like.

Songs enter the public domain when their copyright expires or if the song’s author has forfeited rights and dedicated the song to the greater good. The Public Domain Review explains the public domain eloquently as an "invaluable and indispensable good, which - like our natural environment and our physical heritage - deserves to be explicitly recognized, protected and appreciated."

MORE ABOUT CC0

While most songs enter the public domain because of old age, Creative Commons offers a CC0 Public Domain Declaration that allows artists to dedicate their work to the public domain. It seems fitting that entries to the contest will breathe new life into the Public Domain by returning to whence they came. These new works can then be more easily shared, remixed, and built upon during the contest and after the contest ends. We imagine these entries being used in video projects, coursework, video games, podcasts, and beyond.

Using CC0, you waive all copyrights and related or neighboring rights that you have over your work, such as your moral rights (to the extent waiveable), your publicity or privacy rights, rights you have protecting against unfair competition, database rights, and rights protecting the extraction, dissemination, and reuse of data. More information here.